U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,312 discloses an electric toothbrush, on the brush head of which are provided two separate bristle carriers which are driven by a common drive shaft. One bristle carrier executes an oscillating rotary movement about an axis which is perpendicular to the brush handle. The other bristle carrier is pivoted back and forth about an axis which is parallel to the brush handle. Although this bristle-carrier arrangement causes an active relative movement between the clusters of bristles, it is disadvantageous insofar as it is restricted to a specific drive mechanism, namely a transmission rod which reciprocates in the axial direction. The additional bristle carrier, which is arranged further rearwards in the direction of the hand part, requires a cylindrical underside with a special curved groove, in which an engagement protrusion of the longitudinally oscillating drive axis engages. In addition, the configuration of the clusters of bristles arranged on the two bristle carriers is not particularly suited for cleaning spaces between the teeth effectively.